Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour
The “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” is simply a jaw dropping feat of technology that manages to embody the feeling of attending one of the pop goddess’ sold out concerts in all its vastness and intimacy.
Cameras under director Sam Wrench’s eye are everywhere at once as Swift belts, stomps and smiles through nearly three hours of her back catalog. They surround her while she and her dancers traverse the expanse of her SoFi Stadium stage, which is lit up in imaginative ways to correspond with each era. They also flood the sky to capture images of the entire audience, their cell phones twinkling like 70,000 giddy fireflies. But they can also get right up close for the tiniest flicker of a facial expression particularly effective during moments like Swift’s 10-minute rendition of the rueful-and-rageful “All Too Well.” Wrench’s editing team seamlessly merges performances recorded over three nights this summer in Inglewood, Calif., putting us right there among the madness while also allowing us to step back and take in the spectacle.
But it’s her ability to connect emotionally with both these songs and this audience no matter what era she may be revisiting that remains Swift’s most singular gift. Her showmanship is staggering her hustle, her joy but there is always an essential truthfulness even as we watch album after album change out from under her. The awesome amazon of “Anti-Hero” (off her latest, “Midnights”) is also the plucky up and comer behind “Our Song” from way back when. She’s both our goofy dork and our vindictive vixen, but somehow manages to make every single person in that crowd feel like they’re simultaneously her BFF and soulmate. Maintaining relatability at stratospheric superstardom has always been one of Swift’s most impressive juggling acts, and that’s on display here no matter what song she’s singing.
And you will receive all of the big ones, such as “Shake It Off” and “Bad Blood” from “1989,” her ubiquitous earworms (I could live a whole lifetime never hearing them again), or “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” and “I Knew You Were Trouble” from “Red,” the fun anthems. But during the “folklore” and “evermore” eras of her career, too, “The Eras Tour” film allows for extended immersion in her painfully vivid songwriting. The performance of “champagne problems” at a piano covered in moss that she co-wrote with ex-boyfriend Joe Alwyn is a tearjerking standout, as is “betty” on acoustic guitar from inside the rustic “folklore” cabin. She has been a fashion icon for women and an aspirational idol for little girls everywhere forever but it’s always been true that her greatest strength is storytelling, which is evocative to an almost otherworldly degree, and this film reminds us of that.
One of the cool things about having so many cameras at play here because you never see a single one of them, it’s amazing is that we get to notice things like Swift’s microphones changing color and detail to match each era. We also get to ooh over the excruciating detail on these amazing costume designs sparkly Versace bodysuits and Christian Louboutin boots and the flowy Alberta Ferretti gown she wears for “folklore.” You couldn’t achieve this level of intimacy even if you were there.
Every tiny bit indicates how seriously she took this thing whatever it was supposed to be and it all pops brightly on the big screen. If you’re not a hardcore Swiftie 165 minutes may sound like a lot (and really, by the end it IS exhausting), but as a purely cinematic experience, “The Eras Tour” is incredibly fun. Put on a couple of friendship bracelets and give yourself over to the phenomenon.
For More Movies Visit Putlocker.